Today, I wanted to share another artist who will be featured in my upcoming Black Tattoo Art II: Goldilox, an incredibly talented tattooist who works mostly by hand to creat soulful works of art. Goldilox can be found at Dawnii Fantana's powerhouse studio, Painted Lady, in Birmingham, UK.

I asked Goldilox for a few words on her work. Here's what she said:

I'm inspired by everything from botanical etchings to mehndi and geometry -- by the sacred and the silly. I feel that every tattoo I'm asked to do is an honour as that person has chosen to me to mark their skin with an image they'll carry forever. By keeping this in mind, I strive to make each new tattoo my best yet. A lot of my work is done by hand with no machines, just needles and ink. I adore the intimacy of the process with every tiny dot added one by one, using different tools but the same techniques used for millennia by our ancestors across the globe.

The last time I was in Liverpool was ten years ago, but despite all the cider drinking, I vividly remember the city's electricity and creativity, whether it be in music, street art and naturally tattoos.

One studio that embodies Liverpool's energy is Richie Clarke's Forever True Tattoo. Established in 1995, Forever True offers strong tattoo work in many styles, but pays particular tribute to the city's maritime history with traditional (and neo-traditional) art, which Sailor Jerry would approve of.

Forever True studio also hosts many international guest artists throughout the year, and Richie himself guest spots at tattoo conventions and studios. Richie's next spot will be at the "Tattican" -- the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum -- on the 28 & 29th of July. He'll be taking appointments by email: forevertruetattoo@yahoo.co.uk.

London's Simon Erl has a portfolio filled with fun takes on Traditional and Neo-Traditional work, from classic pin-ups to anthropomorphic characters in kicky outfits. He also works technically difficult tattoos like palms and eyelids.

Simon offers a quick and dirty but serious discussion on his process in one of the Little Scraps of Paper video shorts below. [Check out more of their videos featuring creatives in different fields.]

Jessie is considered the first professional British female tattooist, whose career spanned from the 1920s through the '60s. The Tattoo News offers some info on her start:

Before Jessie Knight became Great Britain's first professional female
tattoo artist, she worked for her father in his sharp shooting circus
act.

Her job being to stand before him
so that he could hit a target that was sometimes placed on her head or
on an area of her body. Which of course was fine until one night it all
went horribly wrong when he accidentally shot Jessie in the shoulder.

And it was this that prompted Jessie, who
was born in Cardiff, to give up show business and leave her father's act
to concentrate on becoming a tattoo artist. But instead of learning the
art from her father (who was also a tattooist in his day), she went to
work at Charlie Bell's in Chatham, Kent, England.

It was in and around the year 1936 that
saw her move on and set up her own tattoo shop in Aldershot,
Hampshire, England. Later to move into the back of an amusement arcade
in the army garrison town, tattooing there throughout the Second World
War.

Ink-n-Iron Fest photo by Nicole ReedTattoo events are taking place every thirty seconds throughout the summer, from New Jersey to Taiwan. Here's our pick list for the next few months to get you planning your own tattoo tour.

June

This weekend, June 11-13th, at the Ink-n-Ironshow, custom cars, pin-up girls, Rockabilly bands, and top tattooists converge around and aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. I've been following the road trips of artists and vendors on Twitter as they make their way over for the seventh year of this sleep-less event. Too much to do there: live shows, the International Pole Performer Showcase, the Pin-Up Pageant, Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, hot rod and kustom car contests, and of course, you could get tattooed by these excellent artists. Check the photos from previous shows, like the one above, on this page.

Next weekend, June 18-20, artists will also be divided among two popular shows, Northern Ink Xposure
(NIX) in Toronto, Canada and the Evian
Tattoo Show in France. The longstanding NIX show will host seminars, Art Fusion and a fine art gallery, among the mix of tattoo goodness. On Thursday before the convention kicks off, there will be a silent auction benefit for Skate4Cancer where tattoo artists donated custom painted skate decks for the charity.

I'm a little bummed that I won't be able to make it to the Evian
Fest as it's the last show in this beautiful city. Gene Coffey of Tattoo Culture offered his thoughts on last year's show here (from friendly crowds to dapper mustaches.) He also took some photos, including this one below of a tattoo he did there. The client wanted Gene to tattoo the words "Bonjour Mademoiselle" but in
the way he thought it would be spelled. Gene has never taken a French
lesson. Obviously.

Alas, I will miss it myself because Brian and I will be in County Cork, Ireland, July 10 & 11, for The Traditional Tattoo
and
World Culture
Festival. I am so excited for this! It's going to be a small gathering, in Cobh, of artists and collectors who love traditional tattoo--not in the Americana sense, but the tribal. For me, it's really a family reunion with Colin Dale and Xed Le head, who were featured in my Black Tattoo Art book, and a chance to hang out once again with the audacious Pat Fish, Queen of Celt. If you're looking for a tattoo vacation in a sea-side town with a bunch of beautiful freaks, please join us.

July 30 through August 1st, Asbury Park, New Jersey will be home to the Visionary Tattoo Arts
Festival. I usually don't list first conventions because most have a rough start but when I saw the artist roster, I had to include it. It's another beachfront party--albeit a bigger one--with live painting, music and sideshow performances. We'll be there handing out Needles and Sins swag so look down. I'm short.

August 6-8, over 300 tattooists will descend upon Doncaster, England for Skin Deep's Tattoo Jam, one of the biggest conventions in the UK. When I went to the Tattoo Jam in 2008 (held in Wales), I had such a blast and got a hand-poked Thai tattoo as well. [See the photos here.] The diversity of artistic styles is vast so there's something for everyone at this show.

Also, Tattoo Jam has teamed up with the best named tequila brand ever for the Hornitos Design Competition where you get a chance to design a limited-edition Hornitos bottle, and if you win, oh, prizes abound.

August
27-29 is Hell City Phoenix's "Let
It Burn" fest. What more can I say? If it's as good as last month's Killumbus show, then it's worth braving Arizona, even if you look like "an illegal."For some advance planning, here are our favorite shows in September and October:

* September 24-26, The London Tattoo Convention at the Tobacco Docks. We'll be there, and there's a rumor going around that I'll be releasing the Black & Grey Tattoo book with Edgar Hoill. I cannot confirm such gossip. Just sayin.